Back in the bay
Today's Ironteam practice featured the first open water swim of the season. Despite the flashbacks of the chilling water and feeling like my head was stuck in an ice fire, from the swim at Aquatic park back in January; I still managed to get the courage to drive up to the city arrive late, spend an unusual amount of time putting on my wetsuit, then proceed to enter the water with only a few minutes left to go of the swim. Still was it my fault everyone started on time and only wanted to swim for 30 minutes? Obviously I love Aquatic Park in San Francicso and if I lived closer would probably be there every day, trying to work out why people swim there! It's cold in December :-)
After my brief but hearty attempt at swimming in the bay, the team headed out for a 5 mile run up towards the Golden Gate Bridge (ah, a nice dry land activity). It felt good and the weather was overcast which was perfect for running.
Run Details (
Click here to view on Google Earth):
Distance:
5.5 miles
Pace:
8min 21secs
Labels: Running, Swimming
Quick out and back on McKean
This morning was a short Captain's Ride with the Ironteam, we met near Almaden park to start the ride. The route was out on McKean towards Uvas out and back in 1 hour. Well when you just have hour to complete a ride you have to make it fast :-) We followed up with a short run afterwards.
Ride Details (
Click here to view on Google Earth)
58 Mins
19.63 Miles
1215 Feet of Climbing
Speed:
20mph Avg.
35mph Max
Heart Rate:
157bpm Avg.
190bpm Max
Labels: Cycling, Running
A Year in Training...
Well I couldn't possibly imagine begin all that things I've experienced over the past year, here is a (fairly) quick recap of the past year:
August 26th 2006: In final preparations for my second Half-Ironman (Big Kahuna), I crashed my bike quite spectacularly on our team practice Triathlon. After a few hours waiting in the hospital, I found out I'd fractured my arm and would not be able to do my event which was in two weeks time.
September: Having missed my Trialthon, I was determined not to miss my next event which was my first
Century Ride. I hadn't done any training and my arm was still not fully healed, being only four weeks since the accident. So against my Doctor's best advice I went ahead completed my first century, it left me very sore wondering how I would ever run 26 miles afterwards.
October: Ironteam kick-off and the training began, I started to get a lot of good runs in and I completed my first Triathlon since the accident. Just 6 days before
Escape from the Rock, I was not able to swim with out pain in my arm, but come race day, I guess the water was cool enough to numb the pain.
November: Was a busy month with the
Treasure Island Triathlon and my second
Century Ride made for another busy month.
December: The weather was getting colder but I was still getting some good miles in the
bike and the run.
On day of over exuberance, I ran 29 miles and cycled 25 miles.
January: I did my first practice
Triathlon with the Ironteam over at Treasure Island and more early morning runs and
rides.
February: This was another great month of training, good rides and runs. Plus my first on my own,
self supported Century Ride. I felt great and ready for Ironman but still had 6 months to go.
March: Perhaps one of the toughest months of the year filled with some regrets, I completed my first
Double Century Ride (in Death Valley of all places), finishing in 10th place and feeling pretty good. Although I took some recovery time I hit things little hard on the Ironteam,
practice Half-Ironman at Lake San Antonio, while I finished the practice well, I realized a week later I put
some serious wear on my legs that do cost me dearly.
April: Was a low key training month, I did my best to continue all the workouts but it was impossible run more than a mile without pain. I started going to a place called SMI, where they specialize in treating athletes with injuries such as mine. There treatment is very effective though describing it as painful would be an understatement. Still managed to get some good training including the
Ironteam Boot Camp weekend and
hill repeats on Mount Diablo brought my heart rate to a new high of 203bpm.
May: It was time for
Wildflower again, I was not fully recovered but decided to put in my best effort without damaging myself any further. I was fine until 5 miles into the run where I started having issues with my legs, I did my best to slowly jog the rest out with worsening things. I continued to cycle strong,
hit a top speed of 54.9mph (obviously I would of like to have gone faster but the speed limit was 55mph).
June: A new month and different goal, I had been training with the cycle team for
America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride, a Century Ride around Lake Tahoe. Training with the cycle team had been great though I'd only done a few rides with them, forgetting about that whole not being able to run thing was good. I completed the Century Ride strong and quickily, with a 5hr 10min ride time I was the fastest finisher of 1800 people, though I should point out it was not a race :-)
Just one week after Tahoe, I faced one of the Ironteam's toughest training weekends at
Lake Berryessa, a 2 mile swim followed by 98 mile bike ride with 13,000feet climbing with a run the next day.
July: The madness continued, with another brutal Century Ride in the East Bay with 12,000 feet of climbing (plus i got lost and did another 17 miles trying to find my way back). Then racing tried at
Vineman, completing my third Half-Ironman of the year and first with a sub 6 hour time. Not letting up for the month of July, the next weekend at the longest workout of the year, "
The Triple Brick", a 9 hour workout, 2 hours of cycling and 1 hour running, repeat 3 times!
August: This is the taper month, the first weekend was a on your own Century Ride, known as a "
Mental Toughness Ride" which I did up in Napa on the Vineman course. The following week I went up to
Donner Lake for 2.7 mile swim, I just need a long distance to find a rhythm. Now in full taper with just short workouts.
The above summaries are just the tip of the iceberg, the past year has been tough physically, mentally and emotionally in all aspects of life. While it has had it's challenges it has been an incredible year!
Labels: Century Ride, Cycling, Honorrees, Running, Swimming, Triathlon
The Art of Taper...
With Ironman Canada just a week away, I am now into the most important phase of training, known as "Taper". This is the time when the workouts are drastically scaled down to a minimum to allow the body to finally recover and strengthen. This has been fairly restful week, no early morning or late nights but just long days with much to get organized.
Wednesday night the team all met up at De Anza College, for a brief track practice, followed by a our send-off party, in which the most important part of taper was fully realized, yes cake!
Saturday morning I volunteered at the Summer Tri Team's practice Triathlon, in which I did some cheering but nothing too strenuous. I final shake down ride in the afternoon for just 45 minutes to make sure my bike was in good mechanical shape for shipping.
Sunday - Last Ironteam practice, which was short with just 5 miles of running we were down by 9am, a first for the Ironteam! We all meet up for breakfast afterwards which ended up taking longer than the workout itself. I then went home and frantically (talk about being organized) packed up all my Tri gear and bicycle to have it shipped up to Canada!
Labels: Cycling, Running
The Triple Brick
This was it, billed as one of the toughest training days of the year, the 9 hour workout! Last year the team had suffered as it was during a heat wave, so the stories had certainly made me nervous, but it also made me go in prepared with lots of fluid to keep me hydrated. Our starting point was Edgewood and Canada, that would be our transition area for the day, as switched off between cycling and running.
We started our first 2 hour ride just gone 8am, the root took us towards Woodside then up King's Mountain. I was doing a good job of maintaining my heart rate until I hit King's Mountain, our instructions were to do 25mins of climbing then come back done, however with the top in sight a couple of us took the extra time to make it to the top. Of course what followed was a nerve-racking descent back down what can be a treacherous route. Back through Woodside and out towards Portolla Valley complete our first two hour ride, making up the additional time with an out and back on Canada Rd.
The first run took me up Edgewood Rd, into the park on the trails, having worked hard to the bike ride to stayed hydrated my first goal on the run was clear (find a quite area). My pace as fairly good and I decided to try walking for one minute out of every ten, to give my heart a chance to recover. Along the trail I did a take a small fall, which might of been nasty if I hadn't braced my impact with a the water bottle I was carrying, before I knew it was time for the the next ride.
The second ride took us North on Canada Rd, up towards Crystal Springs then looping back down as we had one in a ride back in June. Back at Edgewood and Canada we took Edgewood over the hill into Redwood City where we navigated through the suburbs, then through Woodside again and back to the starting point. Now 5 hours into the workout my legs were tiring, and I was not looking forward to the next run.
On the second run I followed through the same loop as before but with a slightly different loop on the trails. My pace and definitely dropped from the last run but I knew I still had another 3+ hours ahead of me so pushing things too hard would be a mistake. I paced alongside a teammate until I from most of the run this certainly helps knowing your not the only crazy person out there.
Next the final ride, unfortunately unlike the previous two rides I did not have anyone to pace with so I heading out on and my own occasionally seeing another teammate. It was a simple loop I'd done before heading down to Palo Alto and loop back through Portolla Valley. This was wear the mental aspect hit me, I was exhausted had no one ride alongside me to complain too and onto of that there was a nasty head wind on a uphill. With all this in mind I remember things good be worse and certainly felt better than I did a few nights ago as I slaved in front of my computer burning the midnight oil as a wrote up exciting status reports. Here it was the Triple Brick and I was in the stage with only another couple of hours left.
The morning started with our Honoree Captain, telling us about Mathew an 8 year boy who had been fighting Leukemia for the last two years. These past 6 months he had not been doing well a and couple days ago he passed away. It is never easy hearing stories like this especially about someone who was so young. Thinking about it put everything perspective and I finished my final out and back on Canada Rd.
One more run to go and my this point my legs were now hurting, I decided not too push but was also determined to complete the workout. This time I headed out alongside Canada Rd, still some hills to contend with but less than Edgewood park. My pace a dropped but I wasn't walking yet, I ran alongside a few of my teammates who were also pleased the end was in sight. I was just tracking my time and knowing I'd probably be slower on my way back I turned around earlier.
After 9 hours, I had cycled 95miles (with 9691 feet of climbing) and run 13 miles it had been one longest continuous workout of the year with the Ironteam, but I can now say I survived the "Triple Brick".
Brick 1 Cycle (
Click here to view route on Google Earth)
31.21 Miles
3,650ft of climbing
Speed:
15.8 mph Avg
40.3 mph Max
Heart Rate
149 bpm Avg
185 bpm Max
Brick 1 Run (
Click here to view route on Google Earth)
4.83 Miles
598ft of climbing
Speed:
10:23 Avg pace
6:52 Max pace
Heart Rate
153 bpm Avg
177 bpm Max
Brick 2 Cycle (
Click here to view route on Google Earth)
33.12 Miles
3,471ft of climbing
Speed:
17.3 mph Avg
39.0 mph Max
Heart Rate
152 bpm Avg
176 bpm Max
Brick 2 Run (
Click here to view route on Google Earth)
4.26 Miles
559 feet of climbing
Speed:
11:28 Avg pace
7:01 Max pace
Heart Rate
160 bpm Avg
182 bpm Max
Brick 3 Cycle (
Click here to view route on Google Earth)
31.40 Miles
2,570ft of climbing
Speed:
16.0 mph Avg
34.2 mph Max
Heart Rate
154 bpm Avg
180 bpm Max
Brick 3 Run (
Click here to view route on Google Earth)
3.98 Miles
260ft of climbing
Speed:
12.09 Avg pace
7:40 Max pace
Heart Rate
152 bpm Avg
174 bpm Max
Labels: Cycling, Running
Water running...
Other than track practice I had not yet been getting in any long runs, due to fear of further injury to my legs. One solution to this was water running, no impact and thus a lot less wear and tear on my body. I joined a teammate at Burgess Pool for an early morning water run, we did a 90 minute set and while seemed easy at the time I was certainly feeling it the rest of the day.
Labels: Running
Back at track...
Beautiful evening at De Anza College, the first track practice I had been to with the Ironteam in what seems like ages. My legs were feeling decent though a little sore from some work I had done on them in the morning. I got a decent though not long 3 mile run in.
Labels: Running
A swim and run down at Pacific Grove
Today involved and early morning start and by early I mean early! The team was to meet down at Pacific Groove (home of the kelp crawl) for a swim and long run at 8am. Luckily I was carpooling so didn't have to be fully coherent for the drive down. We got there early and the weather was no how you expect it to be from a post card, it was decidedly gray and cold, though good for running, but not very inviting for a swim. There was some discussion on whether the swim would take place or not, it was planned to be a long swim, more of a short mental toughness exercise. The decision was made to go ahead with the swim, although not the whole team were taking part I decided not to past opportunity to get into the freezing cold water and attempt a swim.
The water was indeed cold, I swam with head out of the water nearly all the way to the turnaround point. On way back I my motoviation to take the plunge and put my head was so I could swim faster and get out of the water quicker.
After drying off I headed out with my team mates on the run, the weather was perfect it was overcast and cool. I started off at a good pace and kept it going all the way to the turn around point at mile 7, where a support station was setup. On the way back I picked up the pace a little, though this was my longest run since Wildflower and was a little uncertain how my legs would. Has headed towards the mile 11 I could feel the pain creeping in so I decided to walk for a bit. Realizing walking was just as uncomfortable I decided run the remaining couple miles, overall not a bad pace and dip in the ocean to cool the legs was nice. It was a actually a good confidence builder, as my longest run recently has been only 7 miles before this.
Of course after a run like this, there is nothing better than putting your legs right back into that freezing cold water which started the day...
Run Details (
Click here to view on Google Earth):
Distance 14miles
2hr 5mins
9:23min Avg Pace
5:24min Best Pace
950 feet of climbing.
151bpm Avg. Heart Rate
176bpm Max Heart Rate
Labels: Running, Swimming
The many ways to climb Mount Eden...
Tonight's Ironteam practice was hill repeats on Mount Eden, while repeats are generally bore me easily, I have to say I actually had great time. The key is to make every time different, each time I reached the top I the coaches gave new instructions on how to climb the next time:
1. Regular climb
2. Half-standing and half sitting
3. All sitting
4. All standing
5. Time trail (just going all out)
6. For fun I tried a one leg drill all the way up (swapping between legs every so often)
7. Just one more for luck.
Afterwards we did a quick run to complete the brick.
Ride Details (
Click here to view on Google Earth)
Graph by Distance
13 miles
2,707 feet of climbing
14mph avg speed
Graph by Time
59mins ride time
Labels: Cycling, Running
Another Spin and Run @ SB.
It was Tuesday again, which of course meant another spin and run at Sports Basement, a 60 minute spin followed by a 25 min run. I felt good on the run for change and kept a good pace.
Spin:
Technological failure no stats.
Run:
25mins
166bpm Average Heart Rate
182bpm Max Heart Rate
Labels: Running, Spinning
Sunday afternoon Rancho run..
No GPS, no cool graphs, no Google Earth flyovers! I felt naked without my GPS but nobody stared at me. Still taking it easy on my legs I went for a run at Rancho, with nice easy pace. It was a hilly loop just under 5 miles. The whether was hot and having gone out without water or nutrition, I was luck to be running with a friend came prepared.
Labels: Running
Lake Berryessa and the long and winding road...
Friday night was a late drive up to Lake Berryessa, arriving at 11:30pm. Then up before 6am to be ready for the 6:45am swim start. I missed the talk about the swim as I was running late, so I just jumped in and followed everyone else. The water was a good temperature and clear enough to see to the bottom in shallow parts. It was supposed to be a roughly two mile swim, I wasn't even wearing a watch, so thought I'd just keep swimming until everyone else finished. On my fourth loop I was questioned on why I was still swimming? It turns out that 3 was the magic number of loops well it was a good swim :-) Not too much more than 2 miles.
Next up was the 98 mile bike course, I plenty of time between the swim and the bike to get ready. By the time 10am rolled around I was already to go, or so I thought. I started off the ride in the final wave of riders and set out a fairly fast pace, I caught up with Tyler can continued alongside him. After last weeks quick century I didn't worry too much about the pace I was keeping, I knew it would be a tougher ride with the extra climbing but thought the quicker the pace the sooner I'd be done. This was my first mistake I went out too hard and didn't take into account the affects of the hot weather; by 11am it was 80F and rising. I approached a hill still pacing alongside Tyler and realized I need need to slow my Heart Rate which was above 185bpm and rising far too quickly. As continued up the hill my heart rate peaked at 196bpm, I immediately pulled over and stopped to catch my breathe, it took a few minutes but I then continued on a much slower pace.
With that behind me I thought all I needed was too keep a steady pace and the rest of the ride would be fine. Due to the rising temperature my sport drinks had become a unwanted beverage to consume so I had switched to water. I didn't really consider that I all the electrolytes that the sports drink provided, all I knew was water was refreshing. At around mile 40, we arrived at another rest stop and took a few minutes to refuel and refill. From there the climb continued ever upwards, I was riding with a few other people so didn't worry about the route too much. We continued on and the climb got steeper and steeper, I had too pull over a number of time to let my heart rate drop again. At mile 48 where we expected the turn around point there was nothing, so we continued on about half mile further to the peak of the hill, at which is when it was decided we could turn around now that the climb had been conquered. We descended down steep hill at breakneck speed, obviously slowing to avoid the breaking anything and back to the rest stop we had left at mile 40. It was strange that during the long climb we had seen no one else going up or down, it turned out that we had made a wrong turn on the way up giving us an extra 1,000 feet of climbing a grade steeper than anything else on the planned out and back course. With this sad realization of over achievement I continued on.
I passed back through the only town on our route, a small and pleasant in the middle of nowhere, the question in my mind was "Will the $15 I'm carrying be enough for a deposit a house I never have to climb the big hill I'm approaching?". I distinctly remember how great going down that hill been on the way out, which meant only meant it was going to be hell to climb.
I should take a moment to described some of the scenery on the ride, there were trees and a lot of brown (dead) grass, and hills with in view. While it was by no means without its high points to be sure, it seemed like I was on the road to perdition in comparison last week's beautiful bike ride.
But wait there was hope present upon the hill, a Mini Cooper pulled to the side of the road and presented us with ice. At that moment ice was, the best thing ever! If I had been presented with choice a bag of Diamonds or Ice, I would of taken the ice without a second thought.
This seg-ways to an important point, supporting both the North and South Bay Ironteams today were a great groups of volunteers, as well as Honorees and Coaches, I couldn't of imagined doing this ride without their support and with that said I'll go back to complaining about how tough the ride was :-)
With ice the my water bottle no longer burned mouth when I tried to drink it, oh ok, it was never that hot but the temperate was hitting the 90's now. It is true that the ride was uphill both ways as the elevation profile clearly shows. At mile 68 the worst of the climbing was over and it was nearly downhill all the way back, but at this point I was seriously bonking and even downhill felt tough, my stomach was gone, I was drinking it but was in vain as I was already dehydrated. Around miles 75 to 85 there was 10 miles of potholes and even the occasional gravel patch in the middle of the road and enough twists and turns to make a good thriller, it short this was the most miserable piece of road to cycle on.
Finally to main road again, I stopped and took the picture alongside, the lake was in sight again and almost near the end. There was a few more little rolling hills and a number of turns weaving back around the lake, but finally I reached the camp or at least what I thought was the camp ground. I cycled into a place that seemed almost identical from the outside, after few minutes of confusion I headed out of there find to actual place I was staying which turned out to be just a mile away.
I finished! I felt like death warmed over, but I finished!
After the perilless ride their was one more danger ahead, I walked down the boat ramp towards the lake to soak my legs in water, I slipped on the algae and nearly fell flat on my back.
That night I reflected upon all the mistakes of the day:
1. Not drinking enough
2. Not drinking enough before the ride
3. Not drinking a sports drink
4. Not mainting my sodium/electrolyte levels
5. Not following directions correctly
:-)
The next morning was a two hour run, I took it very easy, so much so the last part maybe referred to as walking.
Ride Details (
Click here to view on Google Earth)
98 Miles
13,266 feet of Climbing
91.4°F high
86.5°F avg.
196bpm Max Heart Rate
156bpm Average Heart Rate
14.4mph Average Speed
43.7mph Max Speed
Labels: Cycling, Running, Swimming
A long swim...
This morning was one of our longest Swim workouts totaling around 3,600 yards. We were at Gunderson High school again, but this time the pool was set up for 50 meter lanes, when your going long distance things quicker this way. As usual we started with a number of drills then went in the main set, which was followed by some sprints. I have to say today was the first time I can really really enjoying swimming the final sprints were a lot fun and my energy level was still good.
After the swim I headed over to Rancho with a friend to get some running in. We did 8 miles, half walking and half running, with a good hill in there (1,859 feet of climbing).
Labels: Running, Swimming
Boot Camp Day 1 - "All roads lead to Rome"
Today was first day of our
Ironteam Bootcamp Weekend, packed with Swimming, Cycling and Running. The long day ahead started at Burgess Pool in
Menlo Park, at 9am. We started off the morning with a 1hour swim, doing 1000 yard repeats broken up into different sets. Towards the end of the swim the rain started, my shoes sitting by the pool ready for me to start the run after of course it didn't take long for these to become very soggy shoes, luckily I had a spare pair in car.
Then for a run in the rain, which took us out from Burgess Pool to Standford Campus for some loops. I took the run easy and chatted with a member of the North Bay Iron Team, as they were join us for our Boot Camp weekend. By about 1.5 into the run my IT band flared up and running became hobbling once again, so I walked back to back to start and got ready for the cycle.
The rain was still coming down as our ride began, just as everyone was heading out I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses, not needed to protect me from the absent Sun but from the inevitable spray from the front tire. I had heard the ride brief so knew the general loop but I was on unsure of the beginning, I had a fifty/fifty chance to make the correct turn at the beginning, seemed those odds weren't good enough so I started out the wrong way. I suppose I should note I could of looked at the map but I still have a sense of adventure :-) It wasn't long before I was back on track and caught up with the rest of the team. I was also drenched to the bone with a nice mud wash on my legs and spray up my back. Despite the conditions it was nice little loop through
Portola and I still managed to get a nice speed with safety in mind.
Just as I wasn't sure about the beginning of the ride I wasn't sure about the end either, though I had directions they were some what like a damp rag and unreadable by now. Of course I know the area, so I made my own way back, though a wrong turn did add some extra distance at the end.
After the ride we had a short break for lunch then it was on to sets of Spinning, Running, Strength and Core. The running was out of the question after the morning's hobble and the the spinning while generally
ok, though gave me the occasional wince as a sharp pain shot through my leg. This however meant I had plenty of time to devote to the strength and core training, plus some stretching for good measure. By the time we finished (around 3pm) the Sun was finally out and it was looking like a nice day :-)
Ride Details (
Click here to view on Google Earth):
59 minutes
18.41 miles
1,117 feet of climbing
18.7 mph Average speed
37.7 mph Max Speed
(can't believe did that in the rain)
148
bpm Average Heart Rate
182
bpm Max Heart Rate
Labels: Cycling, Running, Spinning, Swimming
Early morning hobble at Rancho
It was 10 days since practice weekend at Lake San Antonio and figured my legs would have recovered enough to go for a light run. I arranged to meet-up with a friend at Rancho at 6am, still dark then so I had my trusty headlamp. As we prepared to start out are run in the wilderness another runner asked to join as she had no headlamp with her. So we headed with the stranger behind us, the first half mile is flat with a steep hill to follow. By mile 1.75, I was done with running my knee was killing me so the walking began, there was the occasional jog to round out the 5.49 miles.
Things got worse after the run, stairs in the building at work were a major difficulty as I hobbled around. I went to track tonight to do some strength training but running was out of the question.
Run Details (
click here to view on Google Earth):
5.49 miles
1,604 Feet of climbing
1hr 32mins
120bpm Avg Heart Rate
231bpm Max Heart Rate
(Ok the max is clearly wrong, I'm still alive and no paramedics were around, instrumental error)
Labels: Running
Sunday's rest
Well yesterday's workout was more than expected after a week of taking it easy from the
Double Century. Today's team workout
was a swim and a long run, I had planned to go for swim and then spare my legs the pain of the run :-) However the best laid plans... The swim was at 8am, which was just not going to happen, with the time change and still recovering from yesterday's ride didn't rise until 9:30am. The next couple hours I moved very slowly around the house, it daze of exhaustion. I no of only one cure for this, a good run :-)
I got a message from who was going to running at Rancho so I met up with her, and we started off what was to be a half-marathon, and we did so half-walking and half-running. The weather was great it felt just like summer, also there is a good bit of shade on the trails so sun burn wasn't a problem.
Run/Walk details (
Click here to view in Google Earth):
2hours 43minutes
Avg speed, well look at the graph :-)
3,825 feet of climbing
Labels: Running
As Cold as hell...
When something is really cold, it actually feels like it is burning. That is how my face felt when I put it in the water while swimming in the bay up at aquatic park this morning. The water temperature was approximately 53F and though I have swam in colder water before, this was no easier. The water was a little choppy but not unbearable, my hands and feet numbed fairly quickly, but my face only froze. This isn't the first time, I've been swimming the bay, I have done the "Treasure Island Triathlon" and "Escape from the Rock", when your in a race things seem different you just get your head down and get on with, when training you keep asking yourself "Why?". It is funny after wearing the wet suit days and being way too hot, then suddenly the opposite.
After the swim we headed out for a run down the Embarcadero, from Ghirardelli Square to the Ball Park and back. It took three miles for my feet to thaw out. The weather brightened up a bit and there was a bit of wind, generally the conditions were good.
Labels: Running, Swimming
Wet Suit Day 3
Another day at work in the wet suit, more strange looks a few more donations. I can't describe what it like to wear a wet suit for 3 days.
Tonight was not
Ironteam track practice, but the TNT Spring
Tri team track practice so I went a long for a workout and to see all my friends on the team. I hadn't planned on wearing the wet suit for track, but when I arrived the heavens had opened and it was bucketing it down with rain, so I thought why take it off?
Did a couple warm-up laps, the wet suit seemed
ok, then on to stretching. I was not as flexible to be sure, bending down to touch my toes was a thing of dreams :) Lunges and swats seemed to be doable also. Next up was running drills, a bit of foot work, never have I looked more like a penguin.
Finally a 4 mile running set with 1 lap recovery between each mile. Four miles running in a wet suit? Well I didn't manage a 6 minute mile but I did manage the first two at 6:20, the third and forth were progressively slower, I was sweating buckets a felt like my body was on fire. In summary if you want to simulate training at 100°F in winter then run in a wet suit. That said it was very dangerous, keeping hydrated is extremely important, I would
never recommend anyone try this.
Labels: Running
Wet Suit Day 2
Another day in the wet suit, a lot chaffing but still hope....
Trying to hit my fund raising goal by March 1st.
http://www.active.com/donate/tntsvmb/nrmcdTonight was track practice (yes I took off the wet suit), 5 to 6 miles around a track in a wet suit just was not going to happen. Lunges, crunches, push-ups in Wet suit ooh, that scares me just thinking about it. Although we never put in a great distance at the track, it is far more intense workout. It was fairly cold night, which also reminded me I had a still cold, this definitely decreased my performance for the workout, plus the fact I'd already sweating 10 hours in a wet suit, can't forget that :)
Heart Rate number were a little erratic:
Max: 221 ?
Avg: 147 (should be right)
Min: 0 (well we all skip a beat occasionally, right?)
You always know it has been a good work out when you try to start your car with your house key afterwards :)
Labels: Running
The good old Sunday morning run
This morning I joined the Spring
Tri Team, for a run in
Los Gatos, last year I went there nearly every Sunday while training for Wildflower. I meet with my old teammates, Sandy and Jeremiah. We ran from
Los Gatos High School up to the dam together, but as I had a longer run on my schedule, I continued up all the way to the top of St. Josephs Hill, round off the mileage to 10 miles. (The picture on the right shows the great views from the trails, though I wasn't stopping to take pictures today, it is from my walking days :-)
Run Details (
Click here to see run on Google Earth):
10.40 miles
1hr 45
mins2145 feet of climbing
147
bpm Avg Heart rate
187
bpm Max Heart rate
1335 Calories burned
In the afternoon is was time to get another ride in, my plan was for a straight and fairly flat ride. Some days it seems to take an age to get out on the road, first unpack the bike for the car, next put the wheel on, lock the brakes down (forgotten this many time), get my cycle gear on, pump the tires, fill the water bottles and put them on the bike, bring some sports
nutrition, make sure I have everything need if I encounter a flat, can't forget those tire leavers. So after all that I start out on the ride, I pulled out of car park and all I could think was, something isn't right, I missing something. It took a minute to figure it out I had no helmet on, so I
quickly turned back and picked it up.
I started at
Arastradero and Foothill Expressway and continued to
Sandhill Rd, over 280 to towards
Woodside, then along Canada Rd all the way to up to 92. The weather was great for this ride the sun was out and the there was a strong headwind going out, so I stayed in
aero position the whole ride. Coming back the wind was at my back and it was full speed ahead :-)
After the ride I was truly exhausted...
Ride details (
Click here to see ride on Google Earth):
1hr 43min
31 miles
1700 ft of climbing
18 mph Avg Speed
36 mph Max Speed
138
bpm Avg Heart rate
165
bpm Max
Heart rate
1937 Calories burned
Labels: Cycling, Running
Today's Ironteam practice featured the first open water swim of the season. Despite the flashbacks of the chilling water and feeling like my head was stuck in an ice fire, from the swim at Aquatic park back in January; I still managed to get the courage to drive up to the city arrive late, spend an unusual amount of time putting on my wetsuit, then proceed to enter the water with only a few minutes left to go of the swim. Still was it my fault everyone started on time and only wanted to swim for 30 minutes? Obviously I love Aquatic Park in San Francicso and if I lived closer would probably be there every day, trying to work out why people swim there! It's cold in December :-)
Distance:
